The Villanova Singers charmed the campus community this Valentine’s Day with their long-held tradition of delivering singing Valentine’s Day grams. Whether it was an impromptu phone call, a classroom appearance or even a dorm room wake-up, the Singers spread love by surprising gram recipients in full tuxedos and four-part harmonies.
The Villanova Singers is an all-male, traditional chorus dating back to 1953, when Harold Gill Reuschlein, Dean of Villanova’s Law School, founded the group. The singing Valentine tradition dates to 1979, when the Singers first began serenading Villanova students in academic classrooms on Valentine’s Day. Family, friends and secret admirers could buy a gram for someone else, signing up the Singers to deliver it at the requested location.
After taking time to adapt during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Singers were excited to be back to offering their in-person grams alongside video messages and phone calls in 2023. Like last year, this year’s customers could send a phone call for $10, video message for $5 or in-person singing gram to the campus location of their choice for $20, including a dorm room wake-up option for an additional $5. They sang everywhere, from the middle of Café Nova to a chem lab (safety goggles on) to serenading Villanova’s very own University President Rev. Peter M. Donohue, O.S.A., Ph.D..
Each gram is the Singers’ own rendition of “You Are My Sunshine,” with the spinoff being “You Are My Valentine.” The group comes together to learn the arrangement and choreography, and then suit up to go out to various locations around campus to surprise their peers, even if it means an unsolicited wake-up call.
“I think the reactions of people waking up to us singing to them is absolutely priceless,” sophomore and Singers Fundraising Chair Ben Mongirdas said.
Singers President, junior Carter Smith, agreed.
“The reactions on people’s faces are the best,” Smith said. “Sometimes you have to pound on the door, really loud, to get someone to come to the door. And it’s, like, in your first waking moments, you see four tuxedoed idiots walk into your bedroom while you’re just gaining consciousness.”
While the Singers have a blast delivering Valentines, it’s natural for recipients to feel a bit embarrassed receiving a performance in front of entire academic classrooms. In-person grams are typically marked by a special reserved seat at the front of the classroom so the entire room can watch the delivery.
Senior Matt Krase said that he felt some natural embarrassment upon receiving an unexpected singing Valentine from his family during one of his classes.
“At first, I felt a little embarrassed and thought to myself, ‘Wow, I’m really about to get serenaded in front of my classmates,’” Krase said. “I actually got a hot flash and felt my face get all red.”
Krase sat in the back row of his evening construction engineering class thinking he was in the clear, until four students in tuxedos walked to the classroom door and through the rows of tables right towards him in the back of the room. After the initial embarrassment subsided, however, Krase admitted he was glad to have received a singing Valentine.
“The singers told me my parents sent them,” he said. “So I couldn’t help but smile knowing that I am loved.”
This is what the Singers find the most joy in themselves. Treasurer of Singers, sophomore Aleko Zeppos, enjoys going to all different places on campus and meeting new people, which he believes enhances the cherished tradition.
“I just loved seeing the smiling faces on everyone, whether it was 7 [a.m.] or in the afternoon,” Zeppos said. “Well, we probably didn’t get too many smiles at 7 a.m. because people were upset that we were waking them up, but later in the day, we had some awesome people really excited to see us. It’s really special.”
This year was a record-setting year for Valentine sales, with more than 500 Valentines delivered across various mediums, proving that the Singers’ Valentines sales have rebounded since the Covid years. The men were out singing all day long, a testament to the singing Valentines’ beloved history. The group looks forward to this day every year and expects the tradition to sustain long after current members graduate.
“The fact that we have such a wide base of people that will get Valentines and send us all around, running around campus all day long is always fun,” Smith said. “We’re very grateful for all the people who fund us and pay for Valentines.”
Zeppos encourages anyone looking for a brotherhood and a medium to celebrate music to join the Singers, shouting out director Ted Latham and the organization as a whole.
“If anyone saw what we were doing and thought, ‘Man, I would love to be in a tuxedo next year doing these Valentine grams, too,’ the Singers is such a great organization,” Zeppos said. “You can show up to a practice. We would love anyone to show up. It’s free to join, and it’s a lot of fun.”
With this year’s Valentine’s Day behind us, there’s no choice but to look ahead to the opportunity to send your loved ones a singing Valentine gram next year. For now, thank you to the Villanova Singers for another year of delivering smiles, some flushed faces and love with every singing Valentine.
